Presently many organizations have a need for storing large quantities of data, to address this need, organizations will acquire massive disk drive arrays which each require a substantial amount of power to operate. Due to this, these organizations amass considerably large power costs.
In general, the majority of hard disk drives (HDD) are operated in a standard air (nitrogen, oxygen and water vapor mixture) atmosphere. Spinning disks in HDDs at high RPMs against the friction of an air atmosphere is what drives power costs and is largely inefficient. By running the HDD in an atmosphere which is less dense, such as an atmosphere composed of helium or a helium mixture, friction on the disk is reduced thereby causing the disk to require less power in order to spin at a similar rate.
In using a lower density atmosphere to reduce power costs, maintaining helium or a helium mixture inside the drive rather than a standard air mixture at a reasonable cost can pose additional problems. If the HDD is to be sealed, such that it maintains its own atmosphere, the drive will be prone to pressure differences between inside and outside the drive which produces mechanical stress that requires a more robust mechanical design. An additional problem arises when preventing leaking of internal helium during the operating life of the HDD (5 years). Special metal seals or welding have to be used to seal the drive properly.
Due to this all drives contain a breather hole which equalizes pressure inside and outside of the drive. However, a breather hole allows gas exchange and the helium would diffuse out after a relatively short period. Prior art has addressed this problem by welding the drive shut or adding metal seals. Additionally to withstand the potential pressure differences between inside and outside of the drive, prior art has mechanically reinforced the drive case in order to avoid warping of the critical precision drive mechanics. However, these prior techniques all call for heavy modification of production lines.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved system that can effectively supply a HDD with a low density gas, such as helium, during use at low cost involving little to no changes to present production lines. The present invention provides a solution to this and other problems, and offers other advantages over the prior art.